14 Daily English Exercises to Improve Your Skills

07.08.2018

Want to be proficient in English like a native speaker? We know the secret weapon — practice, practice, practice.

When kids start learning their native language, first of all, they listen. Then, they begin to speak, read and finally write. To increase the level of English proficiency, you should constantly practice these four basic language skills — listening, speaking, writing, and reading.

But how to do that on a regular basis? Just make English a part of your daily life. And it’s easier than seems at first. We’ve gathered top English exercises to help you study daily and improve your language skills wherever and whenever you want.

English listening exercises

Are you going to work? Listen to English songs. Are you cleaning your room? Listen to a podcast in English. Walking your dog? Listen to the news in English. What you should understand is that practising is significant if you want to become fluent in a foreign language.

Here are some helpful exercises in English to help you get started practising daily:

Practice listening during downtime

This exercise is straightforward, but still crucial for your language excellence. If you want to enhance your listening skills quickly, you should practice for several hours per day. In case you are too overloaded with daily tasks and simply have no time for regular practising, try to listen to English music or audiobooks during your spare time.

In your daily life, many activities don’t require deep thinking — walking, doing sports, heading to work. Don’t waste these precious hours on scrolling social media. Instead, listen to English music or audiobooks. From now on, your music player should contain the biggest part of songs in English. No matter what style you prefer, pay particular attention to the lyrics and do your best to understand a context of the song.

Doing this, you can practice listening daily without spending hours on it. In fact, active listening exercises bring a deeper understanding of the cultural and language characteristics. Even if you’re not entirely focused on what you are listening to, you’ll still get benefit from it.

Make the most of podcasts

A lot of students who study languages are big on the podcasts. By listening to this type of content, you practice your skills and also get useful information about things that interest you the most — arts, sports, politics, communications, etc.

There are also special study podcasts created for language learners. You can choose the one that fits your English level. By listening attentively, you can also improve your speaking accuracy. Begin paying attention to not only what is said but also how it is said.

Just download a podcast app on your phone, and start listening even on the go. Where to find it? Try iTunes or Stitcher, and you’ll surely find the preferred application.

Watch movies, TV shows, and news

Start watching films or TV shows with subtitles but try not to read them all the time. If you are a slow reader, you can pause, read the subtitles and then, turn to watching. When you get used to listening without reading subtitles, turn them off.

Besides, you can try to watch movies with delayed subtitles. It’s a useful exercise when you watch a film on your tab or computer. By watching it with subtitles that are not delayed, you risk paying all your attention to subtitles. In this case, you practice your reading skills rather than listening.

When you use delayed subtitles, you have no choice but to listen to dialogues to understand characters. Just install a movie player (e.g., VLC, KMPlayer) that allows you to delay subtitles for about 2 seconds. If you can understand the dialogues, don’t read the subtitles.

Find English exercises online

There are a lot of different online resources such as Cambridge English to help you master listening skills. Besides, you can download some training applications on your phone. Generally, such apps include various lessons and tests based on your level, whether it’s basic, intermediate or advanced.

Speaking exercises

Want to speak like a native? There are several ways to improve your English speaking effectively.

Join English speaking clubs or voice chats

English conversation practice is the most powerful method of having a thorough grasp of the language. This helps you get the speaking practice you need as well as improve your listening skills along the way. Besides, you can have fun while building relationships and making new friends. Surround yourself with like-minded people who are open to an idea of practising together — playing games, having a meal or just chatting. Use Google and groups in social media to find speaking clubs in your city.

Can’t find anyone to speak regularly? No problem! You can always find an online chat to join. The development of technologies allows you to have a conversation with a person even hundreds of kilometres away. Don’t waste this excellent opportunity. Just install an app, choose the preferred speaking partner, and start chatting using audio messages.

Use a mirror and focus on fluency

Set aside a few minutes each day for standing in front of the mirror and speaking. Choose a topic you like, set a timer for about 3 minutes and discuss it with your imaginary study buddy. The primary purpose of this exercise is to analyse your body language and learn how to express your ideas without stopping or taking pauses when you speak.

The more you stammer, the less confident you sound. So, try not to stop. If you get stuck on an unknown word, express your thoughts differently. At first, your sentences may not be grammatically perfect, but there is nothing wrong with this.

Do English pronunciation exercises

As practice shows, learners usually don’t spend enough time on improving their pronunciation. However, to be proficient, you should know how to say the sounds correctly, use an appropriate intonation, rhythm, and stress.

One of the most effective exercises to polish your pronunciation is to record yourself. Perhaps, it sounds funny, but it will help you understand your weak points. Try to fix them until you’re fully satisfied with the results.

Reading exercises

You can enjoy reading for fun wherever and whenever you want. But when it comes to reading for improving your language skills, you should concentrate and study. That is why you need to plan your reading routine.

Try to spend at least 20 minutes every day on reading English texts. Find a comfortable spot where you can focus on a book, an article, etc., without risk of being interrupted. To make your reading as effective as possible, prepare for it in advance. For example, take a pen, dictionary, and vocabulary to write new words and expressions. Set your phone or other gadgets in silent mode. If you do all these actions every time before reading, your brain will know when you are about to practice so that you will be more focused.

Read English books, magazines and articles online

If you are a beginner, start with easy books for kids or comics. As an alternative, you can take the book that you’ve already read in your mother tongue. Remember the golden rule — read only books that you enjoy. Also, opt for books that meet your English level. If you want to challenge yourself, choose a book a level higher than you have or comfortable with.

There is a range of online resources that you can use to find recommendations for books. Here are some of them:

Jellybooks lets you discover new books. Besides, they provide all readers with samples. Therefore, you can read almost 10% of the book and decide whether it is worthy of your attention or not.

Listopia on Goodreads gives you access to a variety of lists such as “Books that everyone should read at least once”.

Your Next Read helps you search for books that are similar to the ones you have read before.

Change the language on your phone to English

While you are reading, a multitude of complex processes takes place in your brain. One of them is the correlation of meanings with the words you see. More complex activity is getting into the structure of the language.

Changing the language of your device to English is an easy and helpful way of improving your vocabulary. Your mind will memorise new words by associating a particular word with a function on your phone, tab or computer.

English writing exercises

It’s not a secret that writing helps to learn English, especially, when it comes to grammar. The study shows that you can improve English writing skills through exercises even during the short writing sessions.

Create your vocabulary list

Regularly write down unknown words and expressions with their meanings and useful examples. Keeping words in your vocabulary will help you remember them better and learn to spell more effectively.

If you’ve already created your own list, use these words to compose a story. As one of the best basic English grammar exercises, it’ll help you construct sentences correctly as well as remember different words and find out how to use them in the context.

Depending on how much time you have for this exercise, try to include 10-15 words in your story. Don’t forget that it should make sense. When your essay is completed, you can share it with your friends encouraging them to point out any mistakes you have made.

Describe pictures

Choose a random picture and describe it in as many details as you can. By doing this exercise, you’ll learn more about adjectives and understand how to describe feelings and perceptions. You can use Pinterest as an outstanding source of different pictures.

Write comments in blogs

Reading blogs is an excellent way to improve your skills. But it can also be an excellent platform for practising your writing. And you don’t need to be an expert to express your opinion about the blog post. Just give it a try!

Do English grammar exercises online

When it comes to English grammar exercises, choose the one that explains grammar rules in a clear and simple way. By practising your grammar daily, you will increase your confidence and be able to speak and write in English with ease.

Start practising today!

If you want to boost your English, don’t waste your time. Some of these exercises require a specific amount of time during a day while others can be done on the go. Think of those skills you must improve and start practising consistently. Creating new habits will take some time, but after a while, you will find your perfect routine.

Whatever your native language is, you can upgrade your English skills to the level of a native speaker. Why not start practising right now?

AlHi, I am Al, a qualified English teacher with more than 12 years of experience. Also, I am a creative writer and love to write about inspirational topics and have a great interest in psychology. I love teaching and cherish the moments when I see my students speaking fluently and confidently with a smile of fulfilment on their faces. My methodology is to conduct intensive, personalised courses to meet the exact requirements of my students.